We all say that the 21st century is a new century of rapid development with each passing day, which is indeed true, although we have only gone through the first 20 years in the 21st century, but the development results are outstanding. But the history of the world in the 20th century, before entering the 21st century, is still fascinating, and the world situation is equally complex and changeable
In the course of 100 years of history before and after the 20th century, the world has witnessed two world wars, successive economic crises, the final formation and perfection of the nation-state, the bipolar struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, the multipolarization of the world and new trends... In the 20th century, almost all countries ushered in painful "transformations" again and again, and there is our protagonist today, Spain
We have been talking about the history of Spain for many periods, from prehistoric times all the way to modern times. As of the last issue, we talked about Francisco. Franco's fascist dictatorship in Spain and the period of dictatorship that ended with Franco's death. Let's move on from here today
We all know that Spain did not really establish today's democratic representative constitutional monarchy until the 1990s, and I believe that the age of the Spanish state today is not much different from that of many readers, and everyone may wonder: "Is this too late?" How could it be so late? ”
In the last period, we said that Franco died in 1975, which itself was very late, and Spain after Franco did not directly enter the modern political system, but it took 7 years in the middle to establish today's Spanish political system, and these seven years are also what we usually call the Spanish democratic transition period, or Spanish democratic transition
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > democratic transition (1975-1982</h1>).
Spain's democratic transition began with the end of Francisco Franco's dictatorship, and although we know that a few months before Franco's death, the Spanish government was paralyzed and many things were no longer under Franco's control, we still set Franco's death as a symbolic "anchor point"
Franco
Of course, if we pull the timeline farther away, since the end of Franco's dictatorship, there have been many democratic parties carrying out the democratic transition in Spain. The final sign that marked Spain's transformation into a liberal democracy was the victory of the socialist Spanish Workers' Socialist Party (PSOE) in the elections on 28 October 1982
Socialist Party of the Spanish Workers (PSOE)
Of course, there are different views on the end of Spain's democratic transition: some people think that the promulgation of the Spanish Constitution in 1978 is a sign, is it reasonable? Of course it makes sense! Others think that the failure of Antonio Tejero's attempted coup d'état in 1981 and the victory of the Workers' Socialist Party in the 1982 general election are equally justified!
This article uses only the 1982 term, please pay attention to the distinction. In fact, there are many theories on the demarcation of many historical periods, such as the beginning of our modern Chinese history? Many people will say that it was not before and after the Opium War of 1840? yes! But this is just the official statement or textbook statement. Many of the great figures of the historical circles have put forward many other theories: some say that it is from the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty; it is also said that it is the eve of the embryonic emergence of capitalism in the middle period; and some even say that it was as early as the Song and Yuan Dynasties... As long as it is not to cope with the exam, these statements are reasonable, of course, if you run to the exam to answer the questions, then we still recommend listening to the textbook [cover your face]
If we return to Spain, the middle of Spain's democratic transition can also be divided into several sections, such as the ascension of Juan Carlos to the throne after Franco's death (at this time still the Kingdom of Spain), and Juan Carlos hid behind the scenes until Franco's death, and became Franco's successor and future King of Spain.
Young Juan Carlos
This Juan Carlos was originally the grandson of Alfonso XIII, the last Emperor of the Bourbon Dynasty in Spain, who became King of Spain after Franco's death, and Juan Carlos himself wanted to help the development of the existing political system in Spain. And the ambitious plan for democratic transition is on the agenda
Alfonso XIII
Of course, in the case of Spain at that time, the democratic transition in Spain was pinned on the support of Spain and abroad. This "outside" is the support of the Western countries led by the United States for Spain's constitutional monarchy; the "inside" is the support of Spanish capitalists. But the dilemma of Spain's democratic transition is far deeper than Juan Carlos expected
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="22" > transformation dilemma</h1>
From the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) to the Franco dictatorship (1939-1975), Spain's democracy was trampled on badly, especially after Franco's dictatorship, when the far-right Francoists received considerable support from the Spanish army, and although Franco himself had died, the remnants remained
Franco dictatorship
The people on the left do not believe in a king, although this king is only the grandson of the previous Spanish king, but after all, Juan Carlos had the support of Franco, and the ghost knows whether the two of them are the same person? Or is this new king's dictatorship worse than Franco's?
Juan Carlos
Juan Carlos's ambitious democratic plan is the last to leave these left-wing (of course, the ultra-left must be suppressed), and on the other hand, the Spanish army must not be used, because it has too deep Francoist overtones. So After Franco's death, Juan Carlos did not immediately leave Franco's political system
In the early years of his reign, Juan Carlos swore allegiance to the national movement and the principles of the Franco era; respected the arrangements of the organic law for the head of government; and a series of other moves to paralyze the franco remnants. Support for Spain's political transition was hinted at only in the speech.
Juan Carlos I and Franco (1974)
With juan carlos's cautious and cautious voices and the voices of all sectors of society for a modern polity, Spain has taken the step of democratic politics
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="27" > democratic transition</h1>
The first government of Juan Carlos I was presided over by Carlos Arias Navarro (Prime Minister of Spain during franco's time). The King selected Arias Navarro from a list of 3 members submitted by the Council of the Kingdom, as instructed by the Organic Law of 1966 (arguably the first Prime Minister of Spain in the democratic era)
Juan Carlos I was crowned
But the appointment of Arias Navarro did not herald a massive political transition. This is also the caution of Juan Carlos, whose first step would be to attract the vigilance of franco forces if the new government showed too strong a reform trend, and in order to balance politics, Juan Carlos also awarded the post of deputy minister of defense to the pro-Franco General Fernando de Santiago.
Portrait of Juan Carlos I
But juan carlos's determination to make a political transition was immediately revealed: on 1 July 1976, Juan Carlos appointed Adolf Suarez González, former secretary general of the National Movement (secretary general who had just emerged from the national movement), as prime minister (the second term), and began the transition to Western parliamentary democracy.
Adolfo Suarez Gonzalez
Adolfo Suarez Gonzalez himself was also a major minister in the later Juan Carlos era, and when Spain later selected the "most important Spaniard in history", he was ranked 6th, and was regarded by the Spaniards as the most outstanding prime minister in Spanish history.
But the new government still faces many difficulties. The situation is unstable, the ETA attacks, strike marches, violent protests... At the same time, the domestic opposition demanded the dismemberment of the Franco system as soon as possible, and in March 1976 the opposition united to form a new organization called Democratic Coordination.
It was in this context that Adolfo Suarez Gonzalez and Juan Carlos made the difficult democratic transition. Suarez's first government lasted from July 1976 to June 1977. During this time, Suarez made several important decisions in the first phase of the democratic transition
In short, with the efforts of Suarez, not only Spanish politics has been reformed, but the military and opposition have also begun to gradually change, and a certain degree of democratic reform has been appropriately carried out
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="46" > move toward democracy</h1>
In December 1978, Spain's new constitution was officially introduced, which is also the basic law in force in Spain today. This constitution, which was formally implemented after the 1978 Spanish constitutional referendum, is a major sign of Spain's transition to a modern democracy, so many people believe that the 1978 constitution is the end of Spain's democratic transition
Spanish Constitution of 1978
Another major role of the 1978 Constitution was to legally end the Kingdom of Spain and legally establish the nature of the Spanish state today. In other words, the Kingdom of Spain, which lasted for 486 years from 1492 to 1978, officially withdrew from history because of this constitution
The 1978 Constitution also became the legal guarantor for Spain's transition to democracy. The Constitution stipulates that the sovereignty of Spain belongs to the entire Spanish people, and that the form of government is a parliamentary monarchy, and the king is only a virtual monarch (which is important), and the monarch represents the country but does not enjoy real power. The real organs of state power are the bicameral assemblies of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and the two houses are independent and check and balance each other, which basically has the meaning of separation of powers and checks.
King Juan Carlos I in 2013
Between the 1978 Constitution and the end of the democratic transition period in 1982, the Spanish government was formed by a coalition of democratic centrists, although the constitution also existed, and the democratic system also appeared, but it was not mature after all, so in theory, Spain was still in the final step of democratic transition.
In 1981 there was an attempted coup in Spain code-named 23-F: on 23 February, Antonio Tegello led the Citizen Guard into the House of Representatives and interrupted the proceedings. Marked by this attempted coup, Spain's democratic transition came to an end. The victory of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in the elections on 28 October 1982 marked the beginning of Spain's history of truly ending the period of democratic transition (democratic transition) and entering modernization
coup
In 1982 Spain joined NATO...
In 1986 Spain joined the European Community...
From 1996 to 2004 the Spanish People's Party came to power...
From 2004 to 2011, the Spanish Workers' Andes Party came to power...
In November 2011, the People's Party returned to power...
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